I’m a bit disappointed because I had some electrolysis with the machine that’s meant to be the best kind and I thought I read it’s meant to be virtually pain-free but I found it as painful as blend and more painful than thermolysis with emla cream. I was hoping it wouldn’t hurt as much!
I asked the lady about doing large areas of hair removal and she said she didn’t think it would be a good idea because it would be too sore to put up with, sitting there for so long. I’m not sure how to get rid of all the hair 
In my experience - all electrolysis properly performed electrolysis is painful/uncomfortable. The degree of pain/discomfort depends on the body area being treated and how many hairs are being removed. For example, if I have 5 hairs in one minute removed on the side of my face (in one spot) with blend, it’s uncomfortable. If I have 5 hairs removed in one minute using one of the more advanced Apilus modes (it’s still thermolysis) in one spot, I will barely feel it. But generally, an electrologist using such an Apilus mode will be moving much more rapidly (removed more hairs in 1 min) and therefore the discomfort builds up. Also, it depends on how the electrologist has set-up their parameters. My electrologist sometimes changes things up in regards to parameters or mode to see if something else is less painful.
And, most body work with the help of ELMA in my experience has been almost painfree, providing it is used correctly.
I’ll second that, you need to use correct occlusion and time, you will be able to tell its numb for sure. Even when it partially works its the difference between pain and little bearable pain.
I personally have found Vicodin and Percocet to help cope with the pain, at least on the face.
Electrologist skills and personal sensitivity are varying factors…
[color:#3333FF]saying this quietly while hiding behind a tree in the big Pro Electrolysis Forum Forest…
I did the 5% EMLA rubbed all over, then covered with saran wrap, till I finally just saw it as kid’s stuff, then switched to vicodin. When there was that incident with the girl dying on the freeway on her way to a hair removal appointment (laser?) after she had rubbed EMLA all over her then wrapped herself in saran wrap, it kind of worried me. Also, I think the goeyness of having that all over me was a bother to both me and my electrologist.
Yeah, vicodin will take away your pain. I used to take two and a half before my pro visits. My Electrologist and I had some pretty colorful conversations. No pain at all, she got a lot done. It wasn’t exactly smart to drive to the appointments.
Trouble started when I took it for home DIY and pro visits. That was 2 1/2 Vicodins about five times weekly. Yup, glad a friend tapped me on the shoulder and got me off that stuff. Nothing now, nothing at all but hydration and no sugar. I have this feeling sugar has a big effect when it comes to pain sensing.
Even though I trumpet no use of any drugs now, don’t think I see your situation. Facial electrolysis I think is a level in discomfort above body electrolysis. But, trust me, feet, toes, can be the upper limit. Toes done with blend was basically a civilized, socially acceptable, re-labelled torture session. Those sessions were torture. When I myself did them with Flash, it wasn’t near as bad.
If you want to go the vicodin route, just make sure you’re all together before driving home from the office visit, maybe wait in the waiting room for 20 minutes with a cup of coffee. I sure wouldn’t mix the vicodin with EMLA though. And it probably isn’t even necessary.
It may be my imagination, I don’t know, but the Instantron Spectrum Elite, to me, seemed the most comfortable treatments ever. It’s really too hard to say if one machine is more painful than another, to me anyway. I think I’ve been treated with about seven different types of machines.
…Now scurrying back to the DIY forum
Mantaray[/color]
Pain: it’s the ONLY real issue in electrolysis (and laser for that matter).
When new patients ask me to describe the electrolysis “sensation” I usually say: “It feels like a bee sting from a medieval bee with a New York attitude.” I’ve tried every technique and nuance and some seem a bit better than others; but that greatly depends on how I’m feeling at the moment. Some days machine X feels okay, and other days the same machine X is a “mean NYC bee.”
Were the total elimination of pain commonplace in this field, we would all find that suddenly all the various techniques end up virtually the same. But that’s all still in the very far distant future. But some day …
If LESS pain is what you are after, AVOID ALL CAFFEINE!
Right now, I have two clients who swear they will fight a dual to the death rather than give up their precious addiction to caffeine. Of course, they bitch at ME about how murderously painful the process is. Now the funny thing, the person with the crazy hard hair problem has tried cutting down, and now sees the wisdom of the words “Want less electrolysis pain? Avoid Caffeine, hydrate and replace electrolytes.” The person who would have an easy-breazy job won’t give up a pot of coffee and a six pack of mountain dew A DAY (but ask them to drink that volume of water and…), and I am the crazy one for saying, if you really want rid of this hair as much as you say, prove it, either by dumping the caffeine for a while, or gritting and bearing it.
Won’t go one week without caffeine just to prove me wrong.
Avoid caffeine and have a small meal before your treatment. Make sure you are rested. When you leave for your appointment, allow enough time that you are not rushed. The rest in the hands of the electrologist. Do realize there are NO magic machines or potions. While some topical products can help, they can also be toxic and in some cases deadly. Sometimes it helps to re-calibrate a client’s response to discomfort. I suggest they focus on the end result and whenever they feel the treatment, celebrate that hairs are dying!
[color:#990000]I just kind of wonder how marijuana would effect pain treatments. I really want to know that.
Hairadicator, with all due respect, I differ, vicodin really does stop the pain. I know this for sure. If the facial treatments are really that bad, it’s not a sin to use vicodin. Use it, get the work done. That’s my belief.
You guys say caffiene, I think sugar in it is a culprit. I gave up all sugar. I only use guava sweetener, and I have seen my pain levels plummet. No kidding. Pain is not even an issue anymore with me, and I’m hitting hard.
But yeah, caffiene is like an “all of the above” reasons; raises sensory levels, dehydrates, and has that sugar.
Well, then, just make sure you’re fully alert before getting on the road. After a long work day, a vicodin can add a bad slowing of the senses amd a little bit of drowsiness.
My philosophy? Just accept the pain, don’t dance around it. For some reason, it becomes less of a big deal. My take.
Mantaray[/color]
No Marijuana … it makes the sting last forever!
Well, that what I’m told anyway: Bill Clinton told me!
Yes, sugar is also a dehydrator, but it doesn’t strip away the insulation from your nerve pathways and bundles. Adding water to one’s sugar intake could counter act the ill effects. Caffeine just has to be stopped in order to reverse its effects.
Well, I’m certainly not going to sit here on HairTell and advocate marijuana use. But Bill Clinton told me that it really didn’t make much difference, other than some people may experience a happier attitude during a treatment. But regardless of Clinton’s advice, I always hydrate well before a treatment and I agree THAT makes a big difference.
Well Michelle Obama said that pre Electrolysis ,a bong would be better than a spliff. She also strongly agreed with that to drink lots of Water beforehand and assured munchies to follow